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Literature and the English Civil War |
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Adobe Reader is required to view PDF files. It is available as a free download. |
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The required volume for this course is the course reader: Literature and the English Civil War Available from TEX. 1 Place Saint-Gervais, 1201, Genève. |
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Week 1 |
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Welcome to the course! We will start with an overview of the history of the period, thinking about the role literature has to play, before looking at two pieces which provide some intriguing commentary on the times. John Taylor’s poem (frontispiece above) is based around this unusual image as a pictorial metaphor for a fractured nation. Abraham Cowley’s Preface to his own collection, printed after the civil war in 1656, informs us of the issues concerning writers and writing during the age. |
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Week 2 |
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The Grand Remonstrance. Use this with the chronology to obtain a firmer grasp of the history of the early 1640s, and perhaps formulate ideas for the first portfolio item. From this extensive list, do you think Parliamentary concerns are reasonable, or are they over-reaching their position? During this class, we will start thinking about how to dissect these larger texts, how to assess their strategies, and how to think about their compositions as texts. How does the publication of this list of complaints, after it had been previously issued to the king privately, affect the way this document works, or the way in which we read it? We are also looking at two partisan poems, by Thomas Jordan and John Milton. How do they express their allegiance, and what (if any) rhetoric or stylistic strategies do they use to demonstrate support for their cause? |
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Week 3: No Class |
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Week 4 |
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Early English Newsbooks. The written dissemination of domestic English news had previously been illegal prior to the breakdown of the Star Chamber. The objective this week is, therefore, thinking about the power of the media as ‘Instrument of Government’ in the 1640s and relating the early modern period to our own. Is there any evidence of partisanship amongst these letters? Are there any notable inconsistencies we should be aware of? (Note the letters referring to the attempts to arrest the 5 Members of Parliament.) In week 2, we discovered the forging of the two ‘sides’: Royalists and Parliamentarians. Do these newsletters show us anything else interesting about sides and divisions? Is Parliament a strongly united force in its aggression towards the King? |
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Week 5 |
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John Milton’s Areopagitica: in defence of free-speech against censorship. The objective this week is to think about the rhetorical strategies of Milton’s speech and the arguments he puts forward, especially in comparison with the Grand Remonstrance. Milton also opposes the King, which may lead us to believe that there is common ground between the two: might we loosely term this ‘Republicanism’? We identified that the Grand Remonstrance was somewhat strained with the compact density of its complaint. Does Milton’s composition seem more effective? Likewise, are there any shortfalls we might note to Milton’s text? It is wonderfully convinced of success near the end, but was it successful? Censorship remains a current day problem. The most notorious governmental censorship remains in force in China. However, Americans also have plenty to say about the censorship authorities to highly comic effect! There is a defamatory song about the American licensing authority, the FCC, sung to the English national anthem (a melody which may have been composed, incidentally, just before the period we are studying). There's a choral version and a metal version (but the choral version is better - you just don't expect that kind of thing from a choir. |
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Week 6 |
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The Kings Cabinet Opened: the collection of the King’s letters seized at the Battle of Naseby, which became one of the most decisive publications of the Civil War. This week is a conclusion to the first half of the course. There have been two background narratives in place: the dichotomy between private and public, which follows through the whole course; and the discourse of Republicanism, which we will be moving away from. |
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This displays characteristics of both, to heightened effect. The objective of this class is to identify, as we have been doing, how this document works, its arguments, and its strengths and weaknesses. You may have noticed the title of this sub-section of the course features the words 'Public' and 'Private'. What properties (or series of properties) does this text have that relate to 'private' and/or 'public', and why might this be important? Furthermore, how might 'Public' and 'Private' in this sense relate to 'Print, Press & Propaganda'? What does the existence of such heated responses (such as the Satyr) says about the production and publication of The King's Cabinet Opened? Start with the 'Annotations' and read the letters as they feature in the argument. The content this week it is slightly different because we have material from both 'sides' encased within one document. However, the Parliamentary material is prepared as an inflammatory accusation against the King. If you are a neutral observer reading this text, what does it prompt you to think? Finally, can we make any observations about a ‘progression’ in this ‘Republican’ or ‘Parliamentary’ voice from the Remonstrance to the Kings Cabinet Opened? Class Exercise: [Answers within (if you search hard enough)] |
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Week 7 |
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A slight rescheduling: Part 1 will be dedicated to Martin Lluelyn’s Satyr, which allows the progression to royalist discourse whilst retaining some continuity. The objective this week is to identify key features about this ‘voice’. How does it compares to the other we have identified, and are the strategies of this text effective in their counter-arguments? Investigate the Genre: What is ‘satire’, and what does the existence of this text say about the production and publication of the KCO? Content: Does this attempt to defend everything about the King as highlighted in the letters and annotations? Or, does it try to divert attention away from the important issues raised against the King? Style: This is written in pentameter, not prose. What other features of these verse are evident? What can be said about the language of the first page, for instance? Can you find evidence of sibilance, the simile and the chiasmus? How does form shape meaning? Part 2 [and part of week 8] will be dedicated to Richard Brome’s The Jovial Crew [acts 1 & 2]. This takes us on a chronological shift back before the war began, but it is important (for our public/private picture) to know about what happened to the theatres. In Brome’s play, we have a demonstration of how drama demonstrated criticism of the Caroline era and predicted tumult ahead. Try and identify the main criticisms of the times. English Civil War Quiz! |
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Week 8 |
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This week, we will continue with Brome’s Jovial Crew before moving on to a selection of texts of negotium (what might be meant by this?) The objective this week is to think about the common features of these works, and continue from the Satyr to build a picture of the Royalist voice. We have a collection of poetry and pamphlets here. What kinds of strategies are used? (Please refer to Jason McElligott’s essay for guidance.) Do these texts work collectively, or are there different agendas (as we saw evidence of in the ‘Republican’ discourse)? Finally, we need to comment about, as well as on, these works. What other properties do we notice about these texts? (Authors, dates etc.) With that, how can I be justified labelling them as ‘Royalist’, and by fitting them within the chronology of this course? What can you find out about attitudes towards the protagonist that exist today? |
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Week 9 |
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The Poetry of Otium. Often termed ‘Cavalier Poetry’, this is another form of royalist response to the ongoing troubles of the period. Having established a progression of the republican voice up to and including The King’s Cabinet Opened, what dichotomy is being created with regards to the royalist voice? How does this differ from the more direct and abrasive tone of last week’s material? What is meant by this term ‘otium’? Is it a direct opposite of ‘negotium’, or are there ways in which any of this poetry of retreat (on gardens and creatures and so forth) defies the apparent passivity? You might notice that much of this week’s material was published in the late 1640s, with much of last week’s material published in the late 1650s and early 1660s. Why might that be, and what other purposes may this poetry of retreat have, given the increasing parliamentary hold of censorship? Portfolios due in this Friday. |
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Week 10 |
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Thomas Hobbes: Political Thought in the English Revolution In Our Time: Features Quentin Skinner, University of Cambridge David Wootton, University of York Annabel Brett, University of Cambridge What picture of 'man' does Hobbes create? What is his opinion of, and/or solution to, rulership/government of the country? What is his take on hierarchy? What is his understanding of Commonwealth? We will be completing our second section of the course, on ‘Entertainment, Engagement and Escape’, by drawing some conclusions about royalist and republican ’voices’, now that we have encountered a demonstrative sample of both. We will also try to group together characteristics of the rhetoric of both sides, and establish the terms which most accurately define such types (and functions) of literary texts in this age. |
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Week 11 |
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Charles I: His Speech Upon the Scaffold; Eikon Basilike (extracts). As we now encounter texts written in the aftermath of the execution of the King in 1649, the Eikon Basilike is famed for its own rekindling of the Royal Image as one of piety and martyrdom. On this text, essentially the King’s memoirs, we will address the following questions: What is the main purposes of this book? Do you think it comes from the King’s own hand? What legacy and instruction does he leave behind? How far do you think this text conforms to the picture of Royalism that we have acquired to date? Where does this text fit in terms of the categories of rhetoric discussed in Week 10? |
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Kevin Sharpe, Queen Mary, University of London Ann Hughes, University of Keele Joad Raymond, University of East Anglia |
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Week 12 |
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John Milton; Eikonoklastes. The Eikon Basilike of 1649 has been seen to play upon public sympathy, and to repair the Royal Image from its recent association with conflict, failure, Civil War, embarrassment, defeat and regicide. The text becomes the best selling volume of the seventeenth century, with over 30 editions, and it has been argued further that it maintained a public stance for monarchy which prompted Cromwell to adopt a similar kind of role. John Milton is tasked to respond to this by the government, and a chapter by chapter response to the King’s book is tabled in this reply volume, Eikonoklastes, the shattering of existing images. What is the main purposes of this book? At least, what does Milton tell us from the preface? What new picture of legacy does he leave behind? Do we find any comparisons in Milton’s response here to the Parliamentary response/annotation in the King’s Cabinet Opened? |
